This is a good read...and probably a good reason to get a keep-in-the-box back-up of your favorite 'JOY'!!!http://www.twitchguru.com/2007/05/10/the_d...f_the_joystick/

I have a digital thrustmaster F16 and F22 TQS HOTAS setup thats been out of production for several years. These things (with Bob Churchs eprom digital conversion) are the very best ever made. I long ago learned how to open these things up to replace potentiometers etc.Parts are increasingly rare, but I have gone on ebay in the past and purchased an F-16 stick as a "hot spare". These things are even better than the thrusmaster cougar stick and HOTAS imho.They will PRY THIS STICK OUT OF MY COLD DEAD HANDS before I switch to anything of lesser quality. (which is everything else!)Eric

Oh wait it's getting worse for PC games. I went to EB Games to see about getting Lock On for my son (Yes it is the truth) :) So the guy asked me if I was looking for something and I told him. He said it was discontinued. So I asked him if they had it used? He said that they are no longer purchasing or trading PC games since companies such as Microsoft cause such a problem activating games. People have purchased used games the clerk told me then get home to find they cannot activate them. The kicker was at the two EB Games I went too, there was a 4'x4' section of PC games thats it!!! The rest of the store was all console games. I can remember not too long ago when EB and others carried PC video cards, sound cards speakers, joysticks including the Flight sim Yoke from CH products. Now there is no pc hardware and very little software. I remember they had all the flight sim stuff at one point. #### I bought Sub logics ATP from EB gamesIf this trend continues look for the pc gaming industry to be the thing of the past.

I've also read in certain trade magazines that the way of the future for all entertainment for the home will be coming from consoles not PC's. As technology allows them to make more powerfull consoles for relatively cheaper prices than PC's, their idea is to drive more of the home entertainment, (ie-TV,music,gaming etc.) to them. This way they can sell us PC's for our computing usage and consoles for our entertainment needs.John M

Rubbish, this topic always comes up every now and then.